In the building industry, it is a common requirement that a building permit be prominently displayed at the site of the construction. This building permit, issued by the local authorities, is usually a printed cardboard sheet. The building permit sheets usually include printing setting forth the basis of the permit and providing checkoff blocks for the various inspectors of the local government. The building permit sheet when left exposed rapidly deteriorates from being exposed to the elements at the building site. The initials of the building inspectors often are obliterated by rain, mud or other debris.
In the past, rather futile attempts have been made to protect the building permit as it is put up on a tree or post at the building site. The most common approach is to wrap the building permit in a plastic drycleaning garment bag or the like. As will be surmised, this has not been successful since the wind and other factors soon dislodge the plastic leaving the building permit exposed. This most commonly occurs after an inspector has had to lift the plastic to check off his particular block. By the time the final inspector comes around, the building permit is oftentimes not intelligible and valuable time is wasted by having to doublecheck the various checkoffs. Furthermore, it is also a problem that the building permit will itself be completely blown away during high winds and this causes additional inconvenience and loss of time since a substitute permit must then be obtained and erected at the building site.
In addition to the above shortcomings of the current practice of displaying the building permit exposed to the elements, it will be readily realized that such a display of the building permit is unsightly. With the permit bent, torn and splattered with mud, it is particularly upsetting to the prospective owner of the house or building, and in addition provides a bad image for the lending institution and/or the contractor which also usually has a sign on the premises advertising their participation in the project.
Furthermore, in many jurisdictions, in addition to the building permit, the plans of the building must be located in a convenient place on the building site. In many instances, the inspectors or other interested parties forget to bring the blueprints when visiting the construction site, and time is wasted having to return to the office to obtain another set of blueprints. In instances where the blueprints are temporarily attached to the same tree or post as the building permit, a sudden rain or wind storm can quickly destroy them.
Thus, an objective of the present invention is to provide a protective display device for the building permit, and in conjunction therewith a protective holder for the rolled blueprints.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a display device that is not only functional but attractive to enhance the image of the companies associated with the building project.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide a display device for a flat sheet that is simple in design and provides weather-proofness and yet easy access by the building inspectors and others, as required.